Luis Meléndez, 'Still Life with Lemons and Oranges', 1760s.
London, The National Gallery.

Recent Acquisition

'Still Life with Lemons and Oranges'

1760s

Luis Meléndez
(1716-1780)

NG6602

Luis Meléndez is recognized as one of the greatest European still-life painters, and this is the second of his works to join the National Gallery collection.

HM Government, as part of the Acceptance-in-Lieu scheme, has allocated 'Still Life with Lemons and Oranges' to the Gallery. It comes from the estate of Sir James Colyer-Fergusson, who died in January 2004.

In 1986, Sir James wrote to the Gallery expressing his intention to leave his painting to the nation, because Meléndez was not then represented in a British public collection. However, that same year the National Gallery purchased Meléndez's 'Still Life with Oranges and Walnuts'. Sir James came to see it, thinking that he would leave his painting to another institution. However he realised that the two paintings would complement each other, and in 1987 he confirmed his intentions to the Director of the National Gallery.

Luis Meléndez updated and enriched the austere tradition of Spanish still life painting, which had been initiated by the 17th-century masters Juan Sánchez Cotán and Francisco de Zurbarán. The combination of the two paintings will encourage National Gallery visitors to examine and understand Meléndez's compositional methods, as well as the development of his art.

Meléndez conveyed the solidity and precise texture of objects in artful compositions of great sophistication. He employed a low vantage point and close-up view of objects placed on a tabletop to give his forms an unprecedented monumentality. The use of strong lighting to bring out the volume of the objects enhanced his extraordinary descriptive skill.

As with many still-life painters, Meléndez often made use of the same objects, but each composition is unique. The 'Still Life with Lemons and Oranges' contains many of the same elements as the 'Still Life with Oranges and Walnuts' - oranges, a melon, an earthenware jar with a paper cover, as well as round boxes that usually contained cheese. In both paintings, a rich variety of patterns, textures and surfaces are contrasted and beautifully balanced.

Oil on canvas, 48 x 35.5 cm

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